For Shohei Ohtani, it was simply “the greatest moment” of his life, and Mike Trout said, “It was what every baseball fan wanted to see.” In the final of the World Baseball Classic (WBC), Japan and the USA faced each other on Wednesday night. The WBC is the unofficial world championship in baseball with many top stars from Major League Baseball (MLB). Below them, Japan’s superstar Ohtani and Trout, who is perhaps the best batsman in his sport at the moment.
Both usually play together for the Los Angeles Angels, where Trout has been named Most Valuable Player (MVP) three times and Ohtani once. Despite the two superstars, the team has not been successful recently, which is why it was perhaps the most important game of their careers. And it was one that generated a great deal of interest around the world. In the US, it was discussed in advance whether the final of the WBC 2023 could be the baseball game with the most spectators ever.
In fact, Olympic champion Japan and defending champion USA offered the 36,000 fans in Miami and many millions on the screens a real spectacle. First, the Americans took a 1-0 lead, Japan countered and made the game 2-1. Later, the Asians increased to 3:1 before Team USA was able to shorten the gap again. The score was 3-2 going into the last inning and the Japanese brought on Ohtani as a pitcher.
Japan won the title for the third time in the fifth edition
The 28-year-old is considered a talent of the century, as the only top player in the MLB he is both a pitcher and a hitter, evoking memories of the legendary Babe Ruth. After Ohtani had managed two eliminations, teammate and buddy Trout followed as the third and potentially last opponent. The 31-year-old left the field as the loser in this duel – the game and the tournament ended with a strike out.
In the fifth edition, Japan won for the third time. The team with players from their own professional league and stars from the MLB won all seven tournament games, Ohtani was named MVP in the end. A total of more than 1.2 million fans followed the games of the 20 teams in the stadiums, games were played in Taiwan, Japan and the USA, in addition to Miami and Phoenix.
The WBC was smiled at when it was first held, but the tournament has now proven itself. The stars no longer cancel in rows, but absolutely want to be there when it comes to representing their own nation. “I saw Japan win back then and really wanted to be a part of it myself,” said Ohtani, describing the status of the WBC. He wants to be back at the next event in 2026, like Mike Trout. After all, he still has something to make up for against his Japanese colleague. “He won the first round,” he said meaningfully after the defeat.
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